Needle scouring and polishing machine.



L. A. WHARRAD.

NE EDLE scounme AND POLISHING MACHINE,

, APPLICATION FILED JAN- 30. 1917.

Patented May 7,1918.

NTTEE TATE FATE @ldlflllGE LIONEL ALFRED WHARRAD, 0F REDDITGH, ENGLAND.

NEEDLE SCOURING AND POLISHING MACHINE.

menace.

Application filed January 30, 1917.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LIONEL ALFRED l/VHARRAD, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at No. 5 Peakrnan street, Redditch, in the county of Worcester, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Needle Securing and Polishing Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to machines for the scouring and polishing of needles, knitting pins and other wires or shafts of the kind in which the needles or other articles are wrapped with emery and oil in packets of harden or other strong fabric and are subjected to a rolling operation between pressure rollers for the purpose of causing the needles or the like contained in the packets to roll one against another and by mutual attrition to effect the polishing of the said needles, and my invention consists of the construction and arrangement or combination hereinafter described of the parts of such machines whereby they are simplified and rendered very efficient.

In carrying my invention into eflect I prefer to employ a set of three rollers for each packet of needles to be treated, namely two lower rollers the axes of which may be stationary as is usual in ordinary three roller machines for the scouring and polishing of needles, the said lower rollers be ing driven by belt, rope or other gearing so as to effect the rotation of the packet or bundle of needles while under treatment and an upper floating or pressure roller which is by the action of a hand lever or other means brought to its bearing on the packet or bundle of needles which is supported on the two lower rollers, so as to exert the desired pressure thereon, the said upper floating or pressure roller when the machine is at work receiving a rotary motion through its contact with the packet or bundle of needles which is rotated by the lower rollers,

Mechanical means are combined with the upper or floating pressure roller for giving it an intermittent regular or irregular sl1ght movement toward the axis of the packet or Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May '3, 1918.

Serial No. 145,532.

bundle of needles during the rotation of the same so as to effect a kneading operation on the packet or bundle of needles or the like.

The mechanical means for effecting the said intermittent slight movement of the upper or floating pressure roller toward the axis of the packet may consist of a cam arranged to bear on the middle or other part of the upper floating or pressure roller the said cam having one, two or more rises of regular or irregular shape. The lifting of the upper floating or pressure roller to its normal position when a rise of the cam is passing from ofl the roller is effected by the inherent tendency to resume its normal size and shape possessed by the packet or bundle under treatment. The ends of the upper floating or pressure roller are so arranged that the said roller can partake of a wabbling or rocking motion if desired.

1 will further describe my invention in connection with the accompanying drawmgs.

Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating the respective positions of the rollers and packet or bundle of needles under treatment and the cam which contacts with the upper floating or pressure roller and effects such movement of the same during its rotation that the desired kneading action on the packet or bundle of needles is obtained.

Fig. 2 represents partly in end elevation and partly in section a needle scouring and polishing machine containing my improvements and Fig. 3 is a front elevation of a portion of the said machine.

The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several figures of the drawings.

a are the lower rollers which are capable of a rotary motion only and are driven /in any ordinary way. 7) are the upper floating or pressure rollers and c are cams free to rotate on the spindles d situated over and parallel with the upper floating or pressure rollers b. The cams c are also capable of a sliding adjustment on the spindles d. The requisite pressure on the spindles (i may be obtained in various ways. In the arrangement shown the ends of the spindles (Z are connetced by rods 6 and springs f with rods or tubes 9 situated under the table or bed of the machine, the rods 0 passing through the spindles it on which the upper floating or pressure rollers b rotate. On the rods or tubes 9 a yoke-like part 2' is arranged the said yoke-like part being connected to a lever k pivoted at Z to the frame of the machine, the free end of the lever is carrying a pawl m which in conjunction with the rack a fixed to the other side of the frame of the machine serves to retain the lever 70 in any position to which it may be adjusted. The lever is has depending from its free end a rod 7) terminating in a loop or stirrup 7 whereby the attendant may by inserting his foot in the stirrup r and applying a downward pressure to the rod p exert the required pressure on the packet or bundle of needles 8 which has been introduced between the rollers of the machine. Should, under the operation of the machine, the bundle or packet tend to thicken at one or other end it will only be necessary for the attendant to adjust the cam c on the spindle (Z so as to bring it to bear on the roller 7) nearer the end operating on the thicker part of the packet or bundle.

I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the mechanical means hereinbefore described and illustrated for obtaining the positive movement of the roller toward the packet or bundle of needles under treatment during the rotation of the roller.

Although machines containing my improvements may be constructed to operate on single packets only, I prefer to arrange the rollers in two or more sets arranged one behind the other as represented in Fig. 2, and if desired two or more series of rollers in line may be employed in which case the lower rollers which as is usual are the driven rollers, are provided with the necessary driving gear (not shown) at the extreme ends of the long common shafts of the series of rollers a in line.

And although my invention is primarily intended to dispense with rollers such as are referred to in the specification of Bayliss U. S. Patent No. 1180226, April 18, 1916, I wish it to be understood that an upper floating or pressure roller 5 such as is hereinbefore described and represented with cam 0 may be used in combination with lower rollers such as are described and represented in Bayliss patent specification with great advantage to the prior patented machine.

In order to facilitate the introduction of the packets or bundles of needles into the machine and the removal and replacement of packets which have been under treatment a sufficient length of time I arrange at the back of the machine an inclined plane t in such a position with respect to the rear set of rollers that when a bundle or packet u is placed on the said inclined plane as is indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2 and pressure is applied thereto by the attendant it will force from between the rear set of rollers the packet which is situated between them and the displaced packet will be carried against and will effect the displacement of the packet or bundle of needles in themiddle set of rollers and soon the packets being removed and replaced in the manner which will thus be readily understood. During the operation of removing and replacing the bundles or packets of needles the pressure on the upper floating rollers is removed or reduced to a minimum and the rotation of the upper floating or pressure rollers is preferably arrested by the pressure of the hand of the operator thereon.

Although I have illustrated my invention as being carried into effect by the positive or mechanical movement of theupper floating .or pressure roller with respect to the packet or bundle of needles under operation I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself thereto as the kneading action may be effected by the mechanical or positive movement of one or other or both of the lower rollers or of the whole set of rollers. The more frequently the kneading movements are repeated the more efficiently and quickly will the scouring and polishing of the needles be effected.

And although I have described my invention as a needle scouring and polishing machine I wish it to be understood that the same may be used for scouring and polishing knitting pins and other similar articles and metallic wires or shafts generally.

I claim 1. In a needle scouring. and polishing machine, the combination of lower rollers having a fixed plane of rotation and arranged to support and have contact with a packet or bundle of needles, and an upper roller mounted to have a floating resilient movement and free to move downwardly toward and upwardly from the lower rollers in contact with the packet or bundle of needles and also provided with means hav ing direct contact with the upper portion of the surface thereof for giving it a positive downward movement at intervals for setting up a kneading action on the packet or bundle of needles.

2. In a needle scouring and polishing machine, the combination of lower rollers disposed in alinement and having fixed planes of rotation and arranged to support and contact with a packet or bundle of needles, an upper resiliently controlled floating pressure roller disposed over the lowerrollers and also contacting with the the resiliency of the packet or bundle of packet or bundle of needles under treatment, needles causing the upper roller to rise at 10 and a cam directly engaging the upper porintervals when liberated from the maximum tion of the surface of the upper roller and cam pressure thereon.

5 having cam projections which impart to the In testimony whereof I have hereunto latter roller 21 positive downward movement set my hand.

at intervals to set up a kneading action relatively to the packet or bundle of needles, LIONEL ALFRED WHARRAD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the-Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

